Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. United States Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 17.9% cheaper than United States overall.

Restaurants: pay 50.7% less in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 37.3% less in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 32.3% less in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 6.5% more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 42.4% less in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.0% more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 13.0% more in Abu Dhabi

The cost of entertainment and sports, clothing, and housing in Abu Dhabi are more expensive than in United States. Expenses including restaurants, childcare, groceries, and transportation are lower in Abu Dhabi.

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Abu Dhabi vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of United States, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 50.7% less for restaurants

	United States	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.86	$8.17 AED30.00	-58.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.42	$9.53 AED35.00	-16.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.67	$1.15 AED4.24	-56.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.05	$0.42 AED1.53	-79.7%
Average			-50.7%

United States vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.3% less for groceries

	United States	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$3.63	$1.62 AED5.94	-55.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.52	$5.81 AED21.35	-10.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.98	$7.38 AED27.10	+85.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.30	$3.49 AED12.81	-18.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.46	$4.40 AED16.16	-19.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.34	$1.12 AED4.13	-51.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80	$0.95 AED3.48	+19.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.02	$0.84 AED3.09	-58.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.19	$0.71 AED2.60	-67.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.34	$0.55 AED2.03	-58.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.39	$0.53 AED1.96	-61.5%
Average			-37.3%

United States vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.3% less for transportation

	United States	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.01	$3.63 AED13.32	-9.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.70	$26.55 AED97.49	-60.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,164.82	$29,949.09 AED110K	-12.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.02	$7.62 AED28.00	-57.7%
Average			-32.3%

United States vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.5% more for housing

	United States	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$70.22	$88.30 AED324.28	+25.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,681.01	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	+17.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,404.28	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	-0.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$157.64	$148.00 AED543.52	-6.1%
Average			+6.5%

United States vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

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pay 42.4% less for childcare

	United States	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,450.99	$790.93 AED2,904.68	-45.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,361.50	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	-39.2%
Average			-42.4%

United States vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.0% more for entertainment and sports

	United States	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$11.57 AED42.50	+92.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.31	$5.96 AED21.87	+12.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.42	$6.67 AED24.50	-36.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.68	$95.29 AED349.96	+88.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.95	$14.97 AED54.99	+7.4%
Average			+33.0%

United States vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.0% more for clothing

	United States	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.15	$61.46 AED225.73	+15.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.88	$49.09 AED180.30	+17.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.76	$111.63 AED409.96	+24.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$114.01	$110.14 AED404.50	-3.4%
Average			+13.0%

United States vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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